Command Rebroadcast Sequencing for Ack-Free Reliable Wireless Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing communication systems face challenges in ensuring reliable command delivery to multiple recipients without overwhelming bandwidth, especially in wireless communications where acknowledgments are not always necessary or feasible.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that wirelessly sends commands with a sequence number, allowing receiving devices to store and perform commands, and retransmit if a higher sequence number is received, adjusting timer values based on the frequency of command receipt to reduce unnecessary retransmissions and optimize bandwidth usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If explicit acknowledgments are required for each command received by multiple devices, then command delivery reliability is improved, but bandwidth is overwhelmed and communication efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the acknowledgment requirement from the communication protocol, allowing commands to be sent without requiring explicit acknowledgments from receiving devices. The system achieves reliability through a different mechanism - the sending device maintains a record of sent commands and their delivery status, and can determine which commands were not received by monitoring the absence of expected acknowledgments or through other indirect means, thus eliminating the need for explicit acknowledgment messages that would overwhelm bandwidth.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback through the sending device monitoring command delivery status. The sending device tracks which commands have been sent and monitors for acknowledgments or delivery confirmation. This feedback mechanism allows the system to determine which commands need retransmission without requiring every receiving device to send explicit acknowledgments, thus maintaining reliability while reducing bandwidth overhead.
2Reliability
If acknowledgments are sent back through other devices when a device moves outside range, then command delivery reliability is improved, but additional bandwidth is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses other receiving devices as intermediaries to relay commands to devices that have moved outside direct range of the sending device. When a device is out of range, the system can still deliver commands by having intermediate devices forward them. This intermediary approach maintains delivery reliability while being more bandwidth-efficient than requiring direct acknowledgments through the same intermediate path, as the command itself serves as the delivery mechanism rather than requiring separate acknowledgment traffic.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method communicates commands from a command originator to receiving devices, yet the receiving devices do not confirm receipt of the command. The most current command (e.g. the one with the highest sequence number) is rebroadcast by the command originator and the receiving devices, tending to be more frequent upon detection of an event indicating that the most current command was not received by at least one other device, and less frequently upon detection of an event indicating that the most current command was provided with sufficient duplication that if another device could receive it, the device likely did receive it, subject to a maximum and minimum rate.